Ballerina sculpture

I"m doing another session of sculpture and so far have made a sort of "tree person", but last session I did this ballerina. I had an idea for something different that didn't sketch out, so took some drawings of Iva to use them. It was from the five-minutes rotating pose. I had to carve, rather than model, the legs. That was a bit different way of working. She has ended up being a bit sturdy for a ballerina but I like the attitude of the pose. Working three dimensionally is a good practice and a challenge. It is a different way of thinking compared to putting three dimensions into a two dimension medium.

Spicing it up

Art isn't all painting and drawing. Sometimes it is gardening and sometimes it is changing something about the house. My spice jars had been around forever and were quite grungy. However, you know how it is- you just get used to them! Then, for various reasons, I saw them in a fresh light and decided to make a change. First, I changed over the grungiest to new jars and new labels protected with storage tape so that they would wipe off. The problem there was that then the rest looked worse than ever! So- no answer for it than to do a major re-do. Peppers of various types all got hot pink labels and I changed the others according to the spice and my mood. One advantage is that the new jars have a slightly smaller diameter - so they fit on the turntable better. Not likely to make it into an art gallery, but it is nice to open the cupboard door and see bright, fresh jars of spices.

...and another change

After due deliberation, the decision was made to change the sky yet again! Yes, I do seem to be obsessing over a subject I didn't really *choose* in the first place, but I'm trying to see if it can't be made to "work" better. Anyway, I think I went overboard with too bright a yellow sky, so it now has a toned down version- and a slight adjustment in the shading on the car. Your opinion is welcome!
On another subject, I am now in "LinkedIn", and ready to link up with others there too. I did the "WhoHub" interview some time ago and am on a few other things- but no time to Twitter and I don't really like Facebook as an artist- and no real time for that either. Mostly, I think I will stick to the odd blog....

Art in public

Last night we did our Life Drawing with a draped model at the Art Centre- down in the foyer. This was for Cultural Days. We attracted a fair crowd of watchers and a couple who tried their hands at drawing with us. We had the light on the model but the lighting for we artists was not so good- so it was a bit of "drawing in the dark" - but an improvement over "painting in the rain" which was how we started out at the Grand Prix. Since then, I've noodled a bit on the plein air painting - changed the colour of the sky and added crows- just to have a bit of fun with it---- and because I felt the foreground needed something. So here is the result.

Cultural Days

How did we get near the end of September so soon? Some of it whirled by in preparation for the Grand Prix of Art Steveston, where we started out painting in the rain this year. Now we are up to Cultural Days and Richmond Artists Guild is doing a Life Drawing demonstration in the foyer of Richmond Art Centre this Friday evening. We will have a clothed model in one pose and the general public will be invited to watch or try drawing. I plan on worked in coloured pastels (conte' crayon) so I may produce something like this one. This was Helene in a hat with a veil. We have a different model on Friday night so I may very well post the results.

September....

September always seems like the start of a new year- guess that is sort of an academic hang-over! Still, it is a time when meetings start up again after the summer break and we get into the swing of things again. I've already received notice that my painting, "Have a Cool One" will be in Autumn Salon at the Federation Gallery, Granville Island, Vancouver. It opens on September 20th and runs until October 2nd. I love the play of light and shadow and this was especially a joy to do with the interesting shadows cast by the straw hat. Nadine, the model, likes the way the painting turned out too. I did a pastel in an hour and a half - and also took a photo for additional reference. Being able to put paint on in layers really adds a richness that isn't quite there in the pastel. Peter Aspell, one of my former teachers, used to talk about "the sensuous quality of paint." I like to aim for that. I used transparent darks for the shadows. Anyway, I'm glad that "Have a Cool One" is having a chance to be seen in an exhibit.

Summer Gallery at Omega

Summer is not over yet and the Summer Gallery show at Omega is still on. I am one of four painters and my contribution to the show is all European paintings. This one is of Orvieto, a hill town not too far from Rome. We parked at the bottom, because the medieval town could not take modern traffic, and took a funicular railway up to the old town. There is a beautiful 12th century cathedral there with a mosaic front - and interesting narrow streets. I like the way the space over the streets is often used - as in this painting with the building forming an arch over the street. I think that there is a bit of a sense of mystery - what is down the street, through the arch? Who is the lady meeting? I used a palette knife on the building so that the layers of paint show through somewhat - just like the old plaster. It adds a richness and surface interest to the painting.